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{{Short description|American crime boss (1929–1993)}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2010}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2010}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{use American English|date=January 2019}}
{{use American English|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox criminal
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Morgan
| name = Joe Morgan
| image_name =
| image =
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| caption =
| birth_name = Joseph Međugorac
| birth_name = Joseph Međugorac
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1929|04|10}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1929|04|10}}
| birth_place = [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| birth_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|11|08|1929|04|10}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|11|08|1929|04|10}}
| death_place = [[Corcoran, California]], U.S.
| death_place = [[Corcoran, California]], U.S.
| alias = Pegleg, Cocoliso
| nationality =
| charge = Murder, Drugs
| other_names = {{hlist|"Pegleg"|"Cocoliso"}}
| occupation = [[Crime boss]]
| conviction_penalty = Life with the possibility of parole
| years_active = 1946–1993
| conviction_status = Charged and convicted, penalty served
| occupation = [[Mexican Mafia]]
| known_for =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| allegiance = [[Mexican Mafia]]
| conviction =
| conviction_penalty =
}}
}}
⚫
'''Joseph Morgan''' (born '''Joseph Međugorac'''; April 10, 1929<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK|date=June 7, 2020 |url=https://thecellblock.net/joe-morgan-story/|access-date=2021-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref> – November 8, 1993)<ref>{{Cite web|date=1993-11-10|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-10-me-55229-story.html|access-date=2021-01-23|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> was an American [[gangster]] who became the first non-Mexican American member of the [[Mexican Mafia]]. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his [[Prosthesis|prosthetic leg]].<ref name="LATimes-1993">{{cite news|last=Katz|first=Jesse|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-10-me-55229-story.html|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64|date=November 10, 1993|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=January 13, 2013}}</ref>

⚫
'''Joseph Morgan''' (born '''Joseph Međugorac'''; April 10, 1929<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK|url=https://thecellblock.net/joe-morgan-story/|access-date=2021-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref> – November 8, 1993)<ref>{{Cite web|date=1993-11-10|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-10-me-55229-story.html|access-date=2021-01-23|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> was the first non-Hispanic member of the [[Mexican Mafia]]. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his [[Prosthesis|prosthetic leg]].<ref name="LATimes-1993">{{cite news|last=Katz|first=Jesse|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-10/local/me-55229_1_mexican-mafia|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64|date=November 10, 1993|work=latimes.com|access-date=January 13, 2013}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
The youngest of four siblings, Morgan was born on April 10, 1929 in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]], California to Croatian immigrants Clara (née Radišić from Imotski) and Grgo Međugorac{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, a truck driver who was an ethnic Croat from Ljubuski. Shortly after his birth his father [[United States nationality law|naturalized]] as a [[Citizenship of the United States|U.S. citizen]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, [[Anglicisation of names|anglicizing]] the family name to Morgan due to anti-immigrant and anti-Slavic sentiment at the time (in 1929, the same year Morgan was born, the U.S. passed immigration laws limiting immigration from the Balkans. It’s believed that more than half of the Croatian population in the U.S. at the time was deported from the nation). Morgan grew up in a primarily Mexican and Croatian neighborhood in San Pedro. Later, he was raised by his mother in a Hispanic neighborhood in [[Boyle Heights, Los Angeles|Boyle Heights]]. In the late 1930s, he joined the Ford MaraVilla street gang{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, one of the oldest documented gangs in Los Angeles.
The youngest of four siblings, Morgan was born on April 10, 1929, in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]], California to [[Croats|Croatian]] immigrants Clara (née Radišić from Imotski) and Grgo Međugorac{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, a truck driver who was an ethnic Croat from Ljubuski. Shortly after his birth his father [[United States nationality law|naturalized]] as a [[Citizenship of the United States|U.S. citizen]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, [[Anglicisation of names|anglicizing]] the family name to Morgan due to anti-immigrant and anti-Slavic sentiment at the time (in 1929, the same year Morgan was born, the U.S. passed immigration laws limiting immigration from the Balkans. It is believed that more than half of the Croatian population in the U.S. at the time was deported from the nation). Morgan grew up in a primarily Mexican and Croatian neighborhood in San Pedro. Later, he was raised by his mother in a Mexican neighborhood in [[Boyle Heights, Los Angeles|Boyle Heights]]. In the late 1930s, he joined the Ford MaraVilla street gang{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}, one of the oldest documented gangs in Los Angeles.

Morgan became fluent in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref name="Ferranti">[https://penthouse.com/joe-morgan/ Joe Morgan — of the Mexican Mafia] Seth Ferranti, ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' (February 25, 2020) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101234618/https://penthouse.com/joe-morgan/ |date=November 1, 2022 }}</ref>


==Prison time==
==Prison time==
In 1946, Morgan beat to death the husband of his 32-year-old girlfriend and buried the body in a shallow grave. While awaiting trial, he escaped using the identification papers of a fellow inmate awaiting transfer to a forestry camp. He was recaptured and sentenced to nine years at [[San Quentin State Prison]]. He was only 17 at the time.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />
In 1946, Morgan beat to death the husband of his 32-year-old girlfriend and buried the body in a shallow grave. While awaiting trial, he escaped using the identification papers of a fellow inmate awaiting transfer to a forestry camp. He was recaptured and sentenced to nine years at [[San Quentin State Prison]]. He was only seventeen years old at the time.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />


Morgan was paroled in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK|url=https://thecellblock.net/joe-morgan-story/|access-date=2021-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref> but a year later, he returned to prison for an armed robbery at a [[West Covina, California|West Covina]] bank where he ran off with $17,000.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />
Morgan was paroled in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK|date=June 7, 2020 |url=https://thecellblock.net/joe-morgan-story/|access-date=2021-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref> but a year later, he returned to prison for an armed robbery at a [[West Covina, California|West Covina]] bank where he ran off with $17,000 ({{Inflation|US|17000|1956|fmt=eq|r=-3}}).<ref name="LATimes-1993" />


In 1961, Morgan led 11 inmates in a jailbreak from [[Los Angeles County Jail]] through a pipe shaft and using hacksaw blades he hid in his prosthetic leg.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}
In 1961, Morgan led eleven inmates in a jailbreak from [[Los Angeles County Jail]] through a pipe shaft and using hacksaw blades he hid in his prosthetic leg.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}


Morgan was well respected within the ranks of the Mexican Mafia and became a high-ranking member. His connections with cocaine and heroin suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia's narcotics distribution throughout California. Morgan was able to persuade the [[Aryan Brotherhood]] to forge a loose alliance with La Eme, due to having the [[Black Guerilla Family]] as a mutual rival.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}
Morgan was well respected within the ranks of the Mexican Mafia and became a high-ranking member. His connections with [[cocaine]] and [[heroin]] suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia's narcotics distribution throughout California. Morgan was able to persuade the [[Aryan Brotherhood]] to forge a loose alliance with La eMe, due to having the [[Black Guerrilla Family]] as a mutual rival.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} This was after Morgan tried and successfully made loose alliances with black gangs such as the BGF, which eventually broke down because the Mexican leaders at the time had issues with multiple black gangs. It was thought that Morgan wanted to set deals with white and black gangs to ensure La eMe would come out the dominant force with little resistance. Morgan was known for thinking strategically.{{cn|date=November 2022}}


Allegedly, Morgan made diplomatic relations with the [[Los Angeles Mafia]] through [[Michael Rizzitello]], whom he and [[Rodolfo Cadena]] met during the nine-year sentence of the reputed mobster in [[California Institution for Men|Chino]] for a string of armed robberies during the 1970s.
Allegedly, Morgan established diplomatic relations with the [[Los Angeles crime family]] through [[Michael Rizzitello]], whom he and [[Rodolfo Cadena]] met during the nine-year sentence of the reputed mobster in [[California Institution for Men|Chino]] for a string of armed robberies during the 1970s.


Morgan committed the first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles in 1971.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}
Morgan committed the first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles in 1971.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

Morgan spent more than seven months in federal prison for arms trafficking from Utah to California{{cn|date=April 2022}}. By the mid to late 1970s Morgan was one of the highest ranking Mexican Mafia members in Southern California, and had influence in most of the U.S and even as far as Mexico.{{cn|date=April 2022}}


==Death==
==Death==
On October 27, 1993, Morgan was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Don Joe 'Pegleg' Morgan Dead|url=https://apnews.com/article/1520dd24765f61b164349cb42a94b512|access-date=2021-01-23|website=AP NEWS}}</ref> while serving a life sentence at [[California State Prison, Corcoran]]. His wife requested that he be released on compassionate release, but he died on November 9,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-01-09|title=A History Of Violence: The Story Of La Eme - Mexican Mafia Timeline (1923-2009)|url=https://gangsterreport.com/8962-2/|access-date=2021-01-23|website=The Gangster Report|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Valdez|first=Al|title=The Mexican Mafia|url=https://www.policemag.com/338723/the-mexican-mafia|access-date=2021-01-23|website=www.policemag.com|language=en-us}}</ref> before the process began. "When I visited him about six months ago, he appeared to be losing some weight and his color didn't look good, but Joe is a very private person and he didn't complain", said his attorney, Shirley MacDonald, after his death.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />
On October 27, 1993, Morgan was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reputed Mexican Mafia Don Joe 'Pegleg' Morgan Dead|url=https://apnews.com/article/1520dd24765f61b164349cb42a94b512|access-date=2021-01-23|website=AP NEWS}}</ref> while serving a life sentence at [[California State Prison, Corcoran]]. His wife requested that he be released on compassionate release, but he died on November 9,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-01-09|title=A History Of Violence: The Story Of La Eme - Mexican Mafia Timeline (1923-2009)|url=https://gangsterreport.com/8962-2/|access-date=2021-01-23|website=The Gangster Report|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Valdez|first=Al|title=The Mexican Mafia|url=https://www.policemag.com/338723/the-mexican-mafia|access-date=2021-01-23|website=www.policemag.com|date=February 29, 2000 |language=en-us}}</ref> before the process began. "When I visited him about six months ago, he appeared to be losing some weight and his color didn't look good, but Joe is a very private person and he didn't complain", said his attorney, Shirley MacDonald, after his death.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />


==''American Me''==
==''American Me''==
In 1992, the film ''[[American Me]]'' was released, which was based on the history of the [[Mexican Mafia]]. A principal supporting character is "J.D." (played by [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]]), a non-Mexican member who has an artificial leg. [[Edward James Olmos]] (the movie's writer/director/star) attempted to visit Morgan in hopes that he would gain his love and approval for the movie. Morgan refused to see him, and filed a lawsuit against Olmos and Universal Studios alleging inaccuracies in the film. It has been alleged that at least two people were killed on account of Mexican Mafia displeasure with the script, including former Mexican Mafia members and affiliates who had served as advisers during the making of the movie.<ref name="Blatchford">Blatchford, Chris (2008). ''The Black Hand''. {{ISBN|978-0-06-125729-2}}.</ref>
In 1992, the film ''[[American Me]]'' was released, which was based on the history of the [[Mexican Mafia]]. A principal supporting character is "J.D." (played by [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]]), a non-Mexican member who has an artificial leg. [[Edward James Olmos]] (the movie's writer/director/star) attempted to visit Morgan in hopes that he would gain his approval for the movie. Morgan refused to see him, and filed a lawsuit against Olmos and Universal Studios claiming inaccuracies in the film. It has been alleged that at least two people were killed on account of Mexican Mafia displeasure with the script, including former Mexican Mafia members and affiliates who had served as advisers during the making of the movie.<ref name="Blatchford">Blatchford, Chris (2008). ''The Black Hand''. {{ISBN|978-0-06-125729-2}}.</ref>

⚫
At the time of Morgan's death, his wife filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Edward James Olmos and the filmmakers, claiming the film did not request her permission for basing one of the characters on Morgan.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />


⚫
At the time of Morgan's death, his wife filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Olmos and the filmmakers, arguing that the film did not request her permission for basing one of the characters on Morgan.<ref name="LATimes-1993" />
==See also==
*[[List of fugitives from justice who are no longer sought]]


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0103671|American Me}}
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q642516|title=American Me}}


{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
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[[Category:American people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:American people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:Gangsters from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Gangsters from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer in California]]
⚫
[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer]]
[[Category:Fugitives]]
[[Category:Fugitives]]
[[Category:Mexican Mafia]]
[[Category:Mexican Mafia]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in California detention]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in California detention]]
⚫
[[Category:People from San Pedro, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles]]

Latest revision as of 01:29, 25 October 2024

Joe Morgan
Born
Joseph Međugorac

(1929-04-10)10 April 1929
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died8 November 1993(1993-11-08) (aged 64)
Corcoran, California, U.S.
Other names
  • "Pegleg"
  • "Cocoliso"
OccupationCrime boss
Years active1946–1993
AllegianceMexican Mafia

Joseph Morgan (born Joseph Međugorac; April 10, 1929[1] – November 8, 1993)[2] was an American gangster who became the first non-Mexican American member of the Mexican Mafia. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his prosthetic leg.[3]

Early life

[edit]

The youngest of four siblings, Morgan was born on April 10, 1929, in San Pedro, California to Croatian immigrants Clara (née Radišić from Imotski) and Grgo Međugorac[citation needed], a truck driver who was an ethnic Croat from Ljubuski. Shortly after his birth his father naturalized as a U.S. citizen[citation needed], anglicizing the family name to Morgan due to anti-immigrant and anti-Slavic sentiment at the time (in 1929, the same year Morgan was born, the U.S. passed immigration laws limiting immigration from the Balkans. It is believed that more than half of the Croatian population in the U.S. at the time was deported from the nation). Morgan grew up in a primarily Mexican and Croatian neighborhood in San Pedro. Later, he was raised by his mother in a Mexican neighborhood in Boyle Heights. In the late 1930s, he joined the Ford MaraVilla street gang[citation needed], one of the oldest documented gangs in Los Angeles.

Morgan became fluent in Spanish.[4]

Prison time

[edit]

In 1946, Morgan beat to death the husband of his 32-year-old girlfriend and buried the body in a shallow grave. While awaiting trial, he escaped using the identification papers of a fellow inmate awaiting transfer to a forestry camp. He was recaptured and sentenced to nine years at San Quentin State Prison. He was only seventeen years old at the time.[3]

Morgan was paroled in 1955,[5] but a year later, he returned to prison for an armed robbery at a West Covina bank where he ran off with $17,000 (equivalent to $191,000 in 2023).[3]

In 1961, Morgan led eleven inmates in a jailbreak from Los Angeles County Jail through a pipe shaft and using hacksaw blades he hid in his prosthetic leg.[citation needed]

Morgan was well respected within the ranks of the Mexican Mafia and became a high-ranking member. His connections with cocaine and heroin suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia's narcotics distribution throughout California. Morgan was able to persuade the Aryan Brotherhood to forge a loose alliance with La eMe, due to having the Black Guerrilla Family as a mutual rival.[citation needed] This was after Morgan tried and successfully made loose alliances with black gangs such as the BGF, which eventually broke down because the Mexican leaders at the time had issues with multiple black gangs. It was thought that Morgan wanted to set deals with white and black gangs to ensure La eMe would come out the dominant force with little resistance. Morgan was known for thinking strategically.[citation needed]

Allegedly, Morgan established diplomatic relations with the Los Angeles crime family through Michael Rizzitello, whom he and Rodolfo Cadena met during the nine-year sentence of the reputed mobster in Chino for a string of armed robberies during the 1970s.

Morgan committed the first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles in 1971.[citation needed]

Morgan spent more than seven months in federal prison for arms trafficking from Utah to California[citation needed]. By the mid to late 1970s Morgan was one of the highest ranking Mexican Mafia members in Southern California, and had influence in most of the U.S and even as far as Mexico.[citation needed]

Death

[edit]

On October 27, 1993, Morgan was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer[6] while serving a life sentence at California State Prison, Corcoran. His wife requested that he be released on compassionate release, but he died on November 9,[7][8] before the process began. "When I visited him about six months ago, he appeared to be losing some weight and his color didn't look good, but Joe is a very private person and he didn't complain", said his attorney, Shirley MacDonald, after his death.[3]

American Me

[edit]

In 1992, the film American Me was released, which was based on the history of the Mexican Mafia. A principal supporting character is "J.D." (played by William Forsythe), a non-Mexican member who has an artificial leg. Edward James Olmos (the movie's writer/director/star) attempted to visit Morgan in hopes that he would gain his approval for the movie. Morgan refused to see him, and filed a lawsuit against Olmos and Universal Studios claiming inaccuracies in the film. It has been alleged that at least two people were killed on account of Mexican Mafia displeasure with the script, including former Mexican Mafia members and affiliates who had served as advisers during the making of the movie.[9]

At the time of Morgan's death, his wife filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Olmos and the filmmakers, arguing that the film did not request her permission for basing one of the characters on Morgan.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK". June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64". Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1993. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Katz, Jesse (November 10, 1993). "Reputed Mexican Mafia Leader Dies in Prison at 64". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  4. ^ Joe Morgan — of the Mexican Mafia Seth Ferranti, Penthouse (February 25, 2020) Archived November 1, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Joe Morgan Story - THE CELL BLOCK". June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  6. ^ "Reputed Mexican Mafia Don Joe 'Pegleg' Morgan Dead". AP NEWS. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "A History Of Violence: The Story Of La Eme - Mexican Mafia Timeline (1923-2009)". The Gangster Report. January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Valdez, Al (February 29, 2000). "The Mexican Mafia". www.policemag.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Blatchford, Chris (2008). The Black Hand. ISBN 978-0-06-125729-2.
[edit]

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